Wooden Bullets
by Coroxn
Summary: The Master's back, and Sunnydale has become a vampire haven. With Buffy captured, and the rest of the Scoobies fighting to stop the apocalypse, Dawn heads off in search of help. Which is where she Carter Able, sixteen year old vampire hunter.
1. Wooden Bullets

Authors: Conor (Coroxn)  
Title: Wooden Bullets, New Kid on the block  
Parts: 1  
Rating: PG-13  
Status: ongoing  
Summary: The Master has risen and crushed the Scoobies. With Buffy captured and the rest of the gang trying to prevent the apocalypse, it's up to Dawn to recruit any help she can. Told from the point of view of Carter, sixteen year old vampire hunter, the first Dawn finds. Possible romance.

**Chapter 1-New Kid On The Block**

I hear the familiar sound of a scream, and I'm surprised to find I know it. I know that voice. I do. I can't quite place it, but it hardly matters now. I'll find out soon enough. I run, faster than wise, burning more energy then I should, but hey, I've dusted enough to feel fairly confident.

The street is bright, real bright, but every light casts shadows. Deep, dark ones, in the alleys, where I spend the majority of my nights. I sprint, taking a breath for every step, sucking in all the oxygen I need. I attract stares from people who have either lived here to long to hear the scream, or haven't lived here long enough to feel the courage to do anything about it.

Let 'em look.

My hand slips inside my jacket pocket, to my small, gleaming handgun. Eight bullets per canister, more than enough to care of whatever caused the scream. I wonder if I should bother putting on the mask. The scream sounded familiar, so I decide to be safe.

I slide it on, and my face feels pleasantly cold. It feels like shaking off my old persona, Carter Able, the stressed highs school student, popular but unimportant, and I'm putting on a new identity:

Nightstalker, who lives to help the unhelped in this city.

Because no one else will.

The scream comes again, and nearly boles me over, because I recognise it:

Amelia.

Which is where I sprint _hard_. I draw my gun, and I'm only feet away from the alley in question. A car's in the way, but I don't have the patience to go round, so I jump, swing my two legs over the bonnet and sliding over the smooth surface. And then I'm in the alley way,

All the light goes black as I am consumed by shadow, but I see the vampires. Two of them, hovering, cat-like and preditorial, over my dearest friend. I swear, the words silenced by my expressionless mask.

I raise the gun and fire. The round breaks the skin of one vampire, who has just enough time to look down with vague surprise before he crumbles. Vampires, most know they're immune to gunfire, that metal round can't hurt them. Which is why I hand-carve wooden bullets. They don't know what's hit them, never know just why they crumble to dust. I wonder if it's painful.  
Probably.

The second vamp looks at me, cold eyes baring into mine, and all of a sudden my hand spasms. A bullet flies into the ground of the alleyway, ricochets into a trash can. I drop my gun, and it bounces off the floor.

I realise what's happening, this vamp's hypnotic-a rare quality, but one I've learned to deal with. I grab my mask and pull it off my head, free from the hypnotic glare as the smooth metal breaks the line of sight. I spin violently to hide my face from Amelia, ignoring thoughts like _What is she doing here?_ and _Is she hurt? _and _Am I too late?_ as I slide some sun glasses over my eyes. I swing low and snatch up my gun. No thought for aim, I fire.

I'm almost too late, the vamp's been sprinting at me the whole time. The bullet enters throw the lungs and comes out the back at an angle, taking flight into the air and forcing the Vampire to staggar back.

I can't see much of his face or clothes in the light, which is just as well. The normal looking ones are hard to kill. Heart-wrenching. I place my gun to it's head and pull the trigger. It won't kill it, but at the same time it's a death sentance. The vamp collapses to the floor, and I aim my small gun at the heart. I'm close to pulling the trigger, but it starts to beg, to whimper, so I put my gun away. It's not going to fight, no use waisting a bullet. I slide the gun back into my jacket, grabbing a stake as I do so. But I keep my hand in my jacket, hiding the stake from the utterly defeated vampire.

I bend down, my mouth close to it's ear, and I whisper:  
"You've been dead for a long time, this won't be too much of a shock"

And the Vamp's eyes widen as I push a stake through it's heart, and it freezes for a milisecond, lost in time, before it loses color and turns to dust.

I run through it, the slightly dusty patch, and sprint to Amelia. "Are you hurt?" I ask, making my voice gruff. She can't see my face in this light, with the sun glasses hiding my eyes, so if I change my voice, she won't recognise me.

"Do I recognise you from somewhere?" she asks.

Damn.

I shake my head, and repeat my question, in the same tone of voice.

She shakes her head, too. "I'm fine. Those things...you saved me"

I nod, and for a terrified second my sun glasses slip from my face. I grab them as I spin away from her, walking fast. I flick my metal mask up with my foot, catch it and slide it back on.

Her footsteps echoe mine, she's trying to catch up with me.  
Let her try. Amelia cannot be aloud to find about this side of my life.

No. Nightstalker must be a total stranger to her. At all times.

If who I am by day and who I am by night begin to bleed together-

I don't want that.

I begin to sprint. She's fast, but I'm faster.

* * *

The next night, my phone rings. Not a terrible thing, normally, but not ideal when you're up against six vampires and have three bullets left.

I let them all go at once with three short pulls on the trigger, and sigh in relief as one crumbles to dust. Dropping the gun, I thrust my right hand to my stake and my left to a flashbang. An ingenious little weapon, the flashbang. It makes a noise too loud and a flash too bright for human (and vampiric) senses, and so it stuns them for several seconds. Vamps are even more affected, thanks to the constant aversion to light.

My partner Axle decapitates one with his eponymous weapon before I let it loose. I turn away from it and plug my hands into my ears, that and my sunglasses save me from the worst of the blast. I'm still a little dazed as I fall on one and thrust wildly, so I narrowly miss the heart.

Second tiems the charm, I guess, and I dive wildly for another, staking him instantly.

One's almost recovered, which they do, sometimes. Dull senses finally working for them, I guess.

He swings a wild punch, and even though I get a stake in before the blow lands it still hits me like a truck. I collapse to the ground, covered in dead vampire. I know there's one left, but as I stumble to my feet, something not disimilar to a freight train crashes into me.

I soar through the air, and land in a heap. I try to scramble to my feet, but a stone hand grips my throat hard and lifts me high off the ground. For the first five seconds, I flop like a fish, but then my brain gets back in gear.

My stake has left my hand, abandoning me in an attempt of self-preservation, I guess. I envy it right now. I pull back my hand, and slug it with all my might in the face. It doesn't flinch. I strike again and again, but God help me, close quarters is not my thing.

I know I'm losing stength, so I reel back my leg and kick him between the legs. He flinches, as if sightly uncomfortable, but dosn't losen his grip. I think of a terrific one-liner, but I guess I'll die before I ever say it. Life is cruel.

And then it lets go. I collapse to my knees and gasp. I curl up like a ball, trying to suck in breath. I look up to see Axle looking up at me. He really looks smug from this angle.

"Thanks, man" I rasp, waiting to see if he'll hold a hand to help me up.

Guess not. He's not that type.

"You okay?" I ask.

"Slightly deaf, slightly blind after that thing man. Warning would have been nice"

"These Vamps are saying the same thing"

"Yeah" he smiles. "In hell"

"Or heaven" I respond. And he turns back on me.

"Whatcha say?"

"I said 'or heaven'. Because they go there as well, you know".

"You think any of these bastards are going to heaven, and you're a fucking dead man" he says, and I'm shocked by how personal he takes it.

"Listen" I say. "You've been fighting you're whole life. You've saved thousands of lives. You have to go to heaven, right? But let's say you get sired on the line of battle. Everything you did, gets overruled by what you have no control over. That sound fair?"

"No. Life's not fair. Who says afterlife has to be? Soulless things can't go to heaven"

"Whatever" I say. Becaus he won't believe what I have to say if I press the point.

I missed the call, though not by much. It's from Amelia. There's no message, never is with her. I call back, smiling at the thought of her.

"Hey, Amy" I call down the line.

"Heya, Cart"  
"You rang?"

"Ah, yes" she says, as if remembering an increibly distant memory. "I just saw an awesome movie. Going to see it again. Wanna come with? Me, I mean"

"Sure" I say. "When's the next showing?"  
"Ah" Amelia said, with a voice that portrayed bad news. "Fifteen minutes. Can you make it?"

"I can run. See you in fifteen"

* * *

Twelve minutes later (I do pride myself), I was running to Amelia.

"Hey, Amy!" I call.

She spins around, her bronze hair catching in the flourscent light.  
"Carter" she says, with a smile that would have made any vampire rip-

_Damn_, I think. Gotta stop thinking like that, gotaa stop letting that side of my life bleed over into this one.

Carter and Nigthstalker are two different people. They have to be.

"How you doing?" she asked.

"Fine. You're okay?"

Amy nodded. "Want to go in?" she asked.

"Well, why hurry? We have.." I check my watch. "Three minutes. You can do a lot in three minutes, Amelia"

"Like what?" she asked, voice cautious.

I knew, right then, that if I made to kiss her, she'd kiss me back. And we would be happy and perfect for each other. But I knew that she'd have to find out about the slaying, and that she couldn't take that. She'd leave, or even worse, try to be a part of it. And, God knows, I won't survive forever. Some day, a vamp will get lucky. It'd kill her to lose me, if we ever get that close.

So I live, for now, at least, at an arms length from everyone.

"Nothing," I smile. " It's stupid. Let's go in"


	2. Hello, Dawn Summers

Three days after the movie, on my way home from an uneventful night, I hear another scream. This is one is muffled, so that it could be confused for a girl falling down the stairs, or a slipping in dark street. But I can hear the urgency in it as I spring ino action.

Running hard, a breath for every step, I feel the familiar jitters as adrenaline cuts in. Hands shaking, wondering if I'm going to be able to save this girl, if this is the unlucky moment where I slip up and die. But these thoughts fall, and are replaced with the sheer _rush _of risking my life.

Yeah, make the death wish jokes. I've heard them all.

The scream is dying now, but luckily there's only one alley it could have come from. I feel a rush of cold as I slip into the shadows. Two figures, one giant, growling male and one slip of a girl are struggling together. I have to smile when she elbows the vampire in the chest with a satisfying _crack_.

As she unloads a can of pepper spray into the face of a vampire, I expect her to run.

Only she doesn't.

She wheels around, her hair making for a striking silhouette. Suddenly she has a sword in her hand, God know where from, and slices it's head off, not even pausing as the thing crumbles to dust.

Wow. This girl...a slayer?

It's only then I see ther other vampires.

Four, five, six vampires.

No matter how good the girl is, she won't be able to take six, so I draw my gun and run to help her. Unfortunately, I realise too late that suddenly appearing behind someone during a fight to the death is a bad idea, and she slashes me through the stomach.

Fuck.  
My blood is splattered on the alley wall, but she darts away from me, not even realizing I'm human.

The searing, searing pain in my chest is killing me, and I cough up blood. The wound is deep. Fatel, maybe.

To some. But I can take it.  
For now, I just check out the show. What a show it is, to, because whatever about eyesight, this girl is good. She's fast, agile, striking down two vampires before they could even land a blow. She gets a sharp kick to the chest, but she shakes it off, rolling away from her attackers to give herself some room.

The vampires come at her, and she charges them right back, rolling past and slicing of a vamp's leg as she does. Once ducks under her slash and takes her in a stanglehold. Which is where I come in with a well placed bullet that dusts the vampire. Two remaining, one flees, one comes at me.

Three pulls of the trigger send my attacker to hell, and the girl tosses her blade into the runner, flooring it.

Not thirty seconds after the scream, the fight is over. The girl looks at me, then stakes the two vampires, who are in no position to fight. She picks up her bloody sword and walks to me. I can't help but think my blood is in there two. She walks over to me, blade in hand, and I can't see her face in this light, so I have no idea what she's thinking.

On one hand, she just sliced my chest open. On the other, I just saved her and undoubtedly helped her attack. So, I'm not sure where that really puts me. Best to play it safe, I reckon. I use the wall to sit up, leaning all my weight against it. One hand to my chest, one to my gun, I say  
"Don't come any closer"

She takes one more step, just to taunt me. She lifts the blade in the air, as if to appraise it, but she's really just showing me just what it is she could do to me. I cock my gun to show her the same.

"What'rr you doing?" she aks, her voice light and unthreatening.

"It's my town" I say, unwilling to give anything away. "I should be asking you"

Silence.

"You fight well" I tell her.

"Trained by the best" she says.

"You a slayer?" I ask.

She shakes her head. "Trained by one, though. So, you do this often? Help damnsels in distress?"

I laugh. "You consider yourself a damnsel in distress?"  
She smiles. Or frowns. Hard to tell in the pitch black.  
"But seriously. You hear a scream, and you come running with your gun?"

"All the time" I smile.

"How do you kill them with bullets, anyway?" she asks. "Wood through the heart kills, not much else. Bullets shouldn't be able to. What're they, encanted?"  
"No, no, I just use Wooden Bullets"  
"Clever" she says. "So, about the wound there. Is-is it okay?"  
"I'll live" I say.

"You're sure? I mean, it looks pretty bad..."

"This?" I laugh. "This isn't even hospital worthy. I've had worse"

"Really?" she aks, doutfull.

"Well, actually, I could use a little help getting home"

"Sure. No problem" she smiles. "And, sorry, by the way"

She slides her arm under mine, helping me to my feet. I hiss a little as the wound opens a little more. We keep talking as we limp to my apartment, two blocks away.

"So," she begins. "Why are you doing this? Fighting vampires, I mean. Isn't it easier to just-"

"Not?" I sugest, and she nodds.  
"Truth is...I don't know"

"You don't know?"  
"I don't remember. I was in an accident. A car goes into a wall, I'm found in the boot. Weird, huh?"

"God..." she says.

"I was fourteen. Went to an orphanage. Got sick of it. Cane here"

"And the vampires? They attacked you, or something?"

"No, no. I...I still remember things. Or maybe I just imagine them, and think they're memories. One of the things I've always remembered was Vampires. I knew they were there. People though I'd been brain damadged, or something"

"You know who you were?"  
"No" I simply.  
"Your parents"  
"No idea who they were, where they are, or if they're alive"  
"So...what do you do about money?"

"Weird question" I note. "Well, truth of it is, I ask the people I save for cash. Simple as"  
She gives me an unsrcupulous look.  
"Hey, I can't afford to do it for free. I have to go to school, I have to eat"  
"Okay, okay, not judging"

"And you?" I ask. "Why do you fight. What do you have that's worth fighting for?"

"My sister's the slayer" she begins. "I'm here sister. We've faught all kinds of evil together. But the Master, her first big kill, came back. He got her on her own"

"He killed her?" I ask, tenitively.

"Worse. He captured her. Every night, he tortures her"

And then I see the slayer in this girl. The hate.  
"So why aren't you there saving her?" I ask.

"Because we're not strong enough. The rest of the gang is in Sunnydale, desperately trying to stop him ending the world. So I'm here. Recruiting an army"  
"And, me?"  
"Yeah, you. You'll help, right?"

"Well, what do we have?" I ask. "We've got you, and what else?"  
"Well, there's Giles and Xander. They're both human, but great in a fight. Willow's a very powerful witch. She resurected Buffy once. Anya...human. Tara's okay in a fix, not as good a wicca as Willow. Two world-class soldiers, Riley and Sam. A werewolf, Oz. Two vampires, Spike-"

"You work with Spike?" I ask. "Spike, the vampire? Spike, the railroad spikes guy?"

She nodds.  
"He's good now. Redemption, all that. Ensouled"

"The other vampire?"

"Guy called Angel"

"Angel? Sounds kind of familiar..."

"Also, some pretty good fighters. Gunn, Westley. Angel's son-"

"Son?Vampires can't-"  
"He has a soul. It's complicated"

"All those guys in Sunnydale? Vampires didn't stand a chance..."  
"Well, Angel's lot were here in LA, till the Master rose"  
"And all of them can't help?"  
"Oh, they're helping. It's thanks to them the world hasn't ended. We need every man there just to contain the thing, the Master's apocalypitc! We need an army to take care of him"

I nodd. "I think..." I say, not sure quite what I think.

Luckily, here's my door.

"This is my stop" I tell her, and I break away from her to lean against the wall.

"So, you interested?" she asked.

"Very. When you going back?" I asked.

"Not for a while. Not till I have a lot of power with me"

"Good. Give me time to recover, time to think it over"

I take out a key, and as I'm opening the door, she asks for my name.  
"Carter" I tell her. "Carter Able"

"Dawn Summers"

"Carter" she says, slowly. "I...I don't really have a place to stay tonight. I don't think I could-"  
"Sure" I say, blinking. "Of course, come on in"

And with that, I have Dawn Summers, beautiful vampire slayer, in my apartment.

My one bedroom apartment.

Someone's getting the couch tonight, and with my chest cut open and all, I hope it isn't me".


	3. Promise

**Chapter 3-Promise**

I'm sound asleep when it hits me. They're bad enough when I'm awake, flashes and sounds and the ocassional glimpse of meaning. But when I'm sleeping, jarred awake and torn into the minds of the people who need me-

Yeah, no doubt about it. Visions _suck.  
_Screams, the screams of a young girl, flashes, flashes of her, running, running from something awefull, something grotesque, something _evil_. A street sign, Boulevaurd Avenue, just five minutes away, flashes, flashes of the beast, of the girl, and a gripping sense of urgency that threatens to burst my brain...

I throw myself out of bed, but the pain's still there, the dizzyness, and I trip painfully into the wall with a loud _thump. _Some confused muttering from the next room tells me Dawn's awake. I get dressed, slip on some cothes I know aren't the most flattering. I throw on my battle jacket, the familiar weight comforting on my back.  
Dawn's up, and she sees me up and dressed.

"What's going on?" she asks.  
"Nothing I can't handle, go back to sleep"  
"No! What is it? Tell me, I'm coming"  
"Demon, 'bout to mincemeat a little girl. Throw on some clothes, we don't have to much time"

She slips yesterday's top over her Pyjama's, and some fresh jeans.

"You have any decent weapons?" she asks. "You know, as in axe, broadsword, that kind of thing?"  
I shake my head. "I'm not an up-close kind of guy. You won't need to do much fighting, just get the girl out of there. I'll grenade that thing into next centuary"

Dawn picks up her sword-big enough, but kind of lightweight.

"So, how d'you know about this demon?"  
"Visions"  
"Visions?"  
"Long story"  
"The Powers That Be give you messages about people in trouble, so you know who to save"  
"Well, not too long then"  
"Where is it?" she asks. "The demon?"  
"Five minutes by car" I tell, her, but then I frown, "We don't have five minutes"  
"Do we have a car?"  
"We have a kid who can hotwire" I reply, opening the door for her. "Close enough"

She walks through the door, a little annoyed at my criminal ways. I open the apartment building door, leading Dawn out into the cold. We walk along the street.  
"So, how do you do it then?" she asks me, disaproval dripping from her voice.. "Pick the coolest car around, or just choose at random who's week you're ruining?"

And that's when I grab her and spin her around.  
"Listen" I say, looking her in the eye. "Unless I steal a car right now, a little girl will die. Don't you understand that? She will _die_. So I don't care what moral qualms you've got, it does not matter. Her life above all else"  
"The end justifies the means?"  
"Not always. But _these_ ands justifies _these_ means, so if you're not going to be helpful, please get yourself back into the apartment while I save this girl from being_ eaten_"  
It's hard to keep the malice from my voice. That little girl...and Dawn, just thinks about...

I look around the street, eyes scanning the nearbye cars though it's kind of hard to tell in the lowlight, I find one I think I can work with.  
"Over here" I say, jogging to my chosen vehicle, still not certain if Dawn will follow.

She does.

I draw my stake from my jacket, and look around. No ones here but Dawn and I. I smash the blunt end of my stake against the passenger window. It bounces off, but leaves a heavy crack.  
"Right" I say, bashing the stake of the window again, watching as the crack widens. "If you have any gloves, put them on now"  
"I don't" she says, worried.  
"Then I advise you not to touch anything" I say, my third bounce seriously cracking the swindow.  
"Fingerprints, all that"  
I pull my arm back, and lunge forward with all my weight onto the weak glass. It shatters in an instant.  
Luckily, the lock opens with the flick of a switch, not any pull mechanism, which means I can unlock the door with my stake.  
That done, I scramble across the passenger seat and into the driver's side. I duck underneath the steering wheel, cracking open the panel with my stakes. Normally, the twist of a key twists the mechanism, forcing two wires together and starting the car. With the panel cracked open, I can do this myself.  
There's a satisfying _whirr_ as the car flicks to life.

Dawn hovers outside the car, unsure wether or not to get in.  
"Come _on_" I say,  
"Not that I'm complaining" Dawn begins hopping inside, "But why is there no car alarm?"  
"I chose this car 'cause it's old" I tell her. "Newer cars have better alarms, make it harder for you to hotwire"  
"Where'd you learn this?" she asks me, voice heavy with the implications of a loaded question. "When did you learn how to hotwire?"  
"I don't remember" I tell her, honestly.  
"You do-oh, oh right. Sorry"  
"'S'fine" I tell her, stoming on the accelerator. The engine roars as the wheels whirr, and just lik that, I'm driving in a stolen car. If I ever happen to die on the job, the neighbourhood crime rates would plummet.

I try to drive carefully, if for nothing else then Dawn, but I never got the hang of it, and more then once I go up on the pavement during turns. Dawn yells at me everytime.  
"Slow down!" she screams, as I come to a crossroads. With a red light.  
I ignore her, pressing down even harder on the pedals instead, blurring past.  
"Shit!" Dawn screams. "Slow **down**!"  
"I don't have time-" I begin, but she cuts me off.  
"You won't help this girl very much if you kill us both"  
"And I won't help this girl very much if I'm too late to stop it ripping her throat out!" I yell.  
"I know what I'm doing!"  
My bad turns lays waste to another trash can.

"Oh my God, you're a mad kid with a gun and a hero complex"  
"Listen, Dawn" I say.  
"If there's nothing else you take from your time with me, nothing else you remember, nothing else you take with you for the rest of my life, you always remember this, and it is so important, because one day it could save your life"

I pause for breath,  
"I will_ always_ be a mad kid with a gun and a hero complex"  
"_What_?" she says, as if I'm insane.  
"That's our demon up ahead"  
Dawn looks, and sees it.  
"It's...huge!"  
"Oh yes" I agree. "Fifteen feet, easily"

Though hidden in the dark, the murky light of the steert light reveals two disproportionate arms coming down to below it's knees, with muscles bursting all along. It's head is hidden in the darkness above the lights reach.

"And there's your little girl!" Dawn calls, pointing.  
I see her, cowering in the dark.  
"Yup. We're a little early"  
We're speeding towards them now, the beast getting bigger and bigger as we rush towards it.  
Dawn looks at me. "Shouldn't we be stopping to get out now?" she asks.

"Oh, I dare say we should" I answer.

"But...we aren't stopping..."

"Remember, I'm a mad kid with a hero complex and a gun. And it's a good thing, too, because if I was normal, this probably would never work"

And then, when Dawn realizes my plan, she screams.

We're twenty-five feet away-  
Twenty-  
Fifteen-  
Five-  
And all my senses are lost in the resounding explosion of light and sound.

There's a bone shattering crunch, one from which no one could ever heal.  
That demon will never walk again. The car speeds on, but it only slides another couple of meters. I haven't realized it, but my feet suddenly changed from accelerator to brakes. Just as well.I throw Dawn a quick "Are you Okay?" before I unlock the door and kick it open.

The creature is wrecked. It's legs have been bent and splintered at odd angles, and I know that the fight is won. I unstrap three grenades from my jacket and toss them over. I get the horrible feeling I always do when I take out the pin, like I'm going to drop them and die by my own stupidity, my hands are jittery as I throw them. They role into the demon, inches away from it.

Several seconds later, they all explode at once. It's not the firey explosion it is in movies, it's three short, sharp bursts, each accompanied by a little flash, and the demon is motionless. Dawn finally comes beside me.

"Is it alive?" she asks, cautiously.  
"No, I killed it"  
"One car crash took _that_ out? You sure?"  
"It was squirming. Three grenades"  
"Grenades?" Dawn looks at me. "Three grenades? Where did you get grenades?"  
"Never you mind!" I tease her. "Come on, lets check on the girl"

We both walk over to her. She's backed up against a wall, eyes wide and terrified.  
I bend down, and say "Hey, kiddo. You okay?"  
The girl flinches away.  
Dawn looks at me. "Of course she's not okay? After what she just seen! For God's-"  
I hold my hand up to signal her to stop talking. Because I've just seen what the girl's looking at. And it's not me.

It's over my shoulder.

I spin around, to see a perfectly upright demon. Bones, splintered just seconds ago, seem perfectly straight now. When I'm this close, it's all too easy to see why the girl is terrified.  
Hell, _I'm_ terrified, and I've been around.

The thing is all hunched over, it's disproportionate arms trailing along the ground. It's body is grotesque, too small, the legs and arms much longer, and it's face is worse, monsterous, the head far too small for the even the body, with four massive teeth that interlock when the mouth is closed. Slime is oozing down it's chin, burning away at the pavement beneath it's clawed feet. The claws on it's hands are larger though, and covered in a sort of ooze you just know is acidic.

The creature rears back it's head and roars.  
But it's not a vocal roar, it's a roar right inside your head, right in your brain, blocking out everything else, and it's saying two words over and over.  
Flesh.  
_Ripping._

And this is when I cringe, this is when Dawn whimpers, this is where the little girl collapses onto the street in a fit of tears. The creature swings a muscled, long arm at us, and even twelve feet away I have to dive back, dragging Dawn with me to save ourselves from the claws.  
"Dawn" I say. "Get the kid out of her"  
"But-"  
"Then slam it with the car"  
"But-" she says again.  
"Dawn, I have a plan, a really good plan, and your the one stopping it from starting"  
She nodds, picks up the kid in her arms, and runs.

The creature roars in my head again.  
My knees buckle.  
But I hold my ground.  
This by far the worst thing I have ever seen.  
I draw my gun and open fire. Each wooden bullet creates small explosions of blood in the creature, but I can already see the thing stitching itself together.

Regenerative. I knew it.  
I smile. Because I have a plan. Well,  
Not really. More like the skeleton of a plan. I can flesh it out later. A work in progress, let's call it.

The creature takes one massive step, closing the gam between us, and swings it's arm in a wide arc. The claws are far past me but I know one blow from that massive forarm will crunch my bones, so I role, drawing my stake with my left hand as I do so, and I stab at the arm. And miss.  
The creature defies my expectations by spinning with the blow, lifting a leg to continue the attack, like a gross, dispraportionate ice skater. The foot swings low, and I dive over it, rolling as I hit the ground. The creature keeps spinning, it's arms swinging back towards me, both clawed hands coming for me, slicing the air in preporation of cutting me to ribbons.

And I'm sorry, but something about a grotesque demon pirroutting as it attempts to kill me makes me laugh. I leap backwards, and the slicing arms miss me by miles. It keeps spinning, the arms lurching away from me whilst the leg arcs my way, and I size up this distance, time it carefully, and stab-  
And there's a rewarding squelch as my stake goes all the way through it's leg, and get's stuck. I get a shock as I'm showered in cold blood. Instantly, the leg shoots back into the demon's body, and the spinning stops.

It's more hanched over then ever, screaming vocally this time, not to intimidate, but in pure pain. It's balancing on one foot, desperately trying to pull the stake out, but it's wedged in pretty tight. I'm frozen, for a second, unsure what to do, and a random thought enters my head and I just roll with it.  
I empty my gun on the remaining leg, and the creature crashes to the ground, screaming all the while. Which is where Dawn crashes into it with her car, just a blur, and the creature explodes in blood, soaring through the air, bones utterly broken. But even as Dawn gets out of the broken car to greet me, the bones start to knit together.

She starts to run to me, but I wave her off, because I have a very small window of oppurtunity to work with. I sprint, running to the fallen creature as it squirms and screams. I rip of my grenade pocket, it should still have seven grenades left. I take the pin off one, rap it in my jacket material and toss it into the creatures squirming mouth. And then I run.  
Before I make it ten steps, the resounding explosion covers me in demon blood. I turn back, and the head's literally blown off.

"Regenerate_ that_" I mutter.  
"Wow!" Dawn calls. "Wow! I mean, I've done some cool stuff but-wow!"  
I ignore her, suddenly being struck by something.

"Listen Dawn, something is very, very wrong here"  
"What?"  
I hesitate for a moment, not fully sure what. I talk throuh it, trying to figure it out.  
"Okay, okay...This thing, is emmesley powerful, right?"  
"Right" she nodds.  
"It must have amazing killing power. I mean, it should have killed thousands. Why are the powers only alerting this to me _now_?"  
"Maybe.." Dawn stutters, "Maybe because you couldn't have killed it without me?"  
"Maybe" I agree. "But, why was it attacking that girl? Why was she even out? How old is she, six? I don't think this was random, Dawn"  
"Huh?"  
"Where is she now?" I ask.  
"She's in the car" Dawn says, wheeling around.  
"Carter, look!" she screams, exhasperated.

I wheel around, just in time to see two figures drag what look like the limp body of small girl into their car. Dawn runs, but I know it's too late.  
I collapse to my knees.  
"Why didn't I see it...?" I mutter.  
It's the girl. The demon was nothing, just a servant.  
It was the girl they're after.  
The girl the Powers were pointing me to.  
The girl I was supposed to save.  
The girl that I let down.  
"I'll find you" I whisper.  
"I promise"


	4. Plans

I slam open my apartment door, Dawn close behind. Dawn says a few words, and I try to be polite, but I'm really not in the mood for talking. I need to work. Hard.  
That girl dies, it's all my fault.  
I have to save her.

We come to the bookcase. Floor-to-ceiling, six feet wide, a good index for demons and how to kill them. The key is rusty as I unlock the glass, I haven't used these since the Licod infestation, where they were quite usefull when I needed something blunt and heavy to crush them with.  
I run my finger along the backs of the books, searching for a few. I pull out six, hand half of them to Dawn.

"Each demon has an illustration, just skim through them till we find our big boy. They might not be perfect copies, demons have varius different stages, and the illustraters may not have had a good luck. Read them if you're not sure. Tell me if you get a match"

We slup down into seperate couches, and I skim through _The Talfoard Comprendium Of The Demonic America_s. The pictures are good, but this is known for being a little sparse info-wise, most commonly referring to other material. As I read, I see the pictures _are_ good, grossly realistic, some are so aweful I almost gag.  
I find a few that look close to demon in the alley, but they all prove to be something else upon further inspection. I reach the end, and I toss it aside, opening _Demonic Observus_, where I find something that's a little similar. The illustration's a little crude, and the head looks too big, there are no claws, but what I said to Dawn holds true, this could be a younger form of the demon, maybe the illustrator didn't get too good a glimpse, so I read on.

"_Smells strongly of clover_" it reads, and I instantly know it's not who I'm looking for.

I skim further along, close to the end, when I see it. The picture is good, graphic, almost a perfect copy of what I faught, down to the ooze of slime dripping from it's claws. I bore into the text passage:  
"_Porroclaw Virus_" the passage reads. "_Is one of the world's deadliest demons. Possessing dispraportionate limbs, it's fighting style is unpredictable and wildly varied, making them expert killers. They secret a certain poison from glans underneath the claw, which, if it enters the bloodstream, causes paralysis. The poison secreted from the mouth is deadly, with the only cure being the paralytic poison its secretes"  
_Is sounds like a match.  
"_The creature is adept at the 'physic scream' a power which allows it to broadcast a scream into the heads of all those nearby, terriyfing them and reducing more powerful opponents to fearful shadows of themselves"  
_Bingo. This is it.  
"_Luckily, the creature is vergining on extinction, with the only three remaining specimens under the control of he Aulder family. For more information on the Aulder family, see, _"Aulder, a hostory" _and _"The Family of Fame".

"Dawn" I call out. I loom to her, seeing she;s not half way through the first book I gave her. "I've found him. The demon is under the control of the Aulder family"  
Dawn shakes her head. "Who are they?"  
I shurg. "Dunno, it doesn't say much, just gives two books you can read about them. One of them entitled, "_The Family of Flame_". I doubt they're good news. They kidnapped that girl...why? Why do that?" I shake my head, and walk to my battle chest. Lifting the lid, I grab another strap of grenades and a few dozen wooden bullets.

"We're going, Dawn"  
"To a bookshop?"  
I stare at her, blindly wondering what she could be talking about.  
"You know" She says, sheepishly. "To get those books"  
I laugh. I have to. "No, Dawn, we don't have that kind of time. Where we're going..." I pause.  
"Not that straight and narrow".

* * *

I knock three times on the door.  
"You sure it's here?" Dawn asks, surveying the construction site. "It doesn't look like a great place for a good bar..."  
"It's not a good bar" I tell her, as a tiny piece of wood vanishes, revealing two beady eyes.  
"Password?" asks a high-pitched voice.  
"We don't have time-"  
"No password, no entry" says the shrill voice.  
I shove my gun through the slot of wood presented, finger on the trigger.  
"Open up _now_, Ben"  
"Okay, okay, calm down!" says the high voice, and the door swings open to reveal Ben.  
"How ya doin', Carter? Can I get you a drink?" he asks, with a smile that would drive a car-salesman to shame.

"N'thanks" I mutter, slurring my words in the way that impresses people on this side of town.  
"Not what'em here for"

"And what are you here for?" Ben says, voice high pitched and jolly  
"Info" I say, loving how the word bounces from my mouth with this accent.

"Info...?" Ben says, dismayed. "You know I hate that-"  
"I know you deal in it anyway" I interupt. "Auder Family. What are they up to?"

Ben hesitates. It's a long hesitate, one you know he's using to make up a lie.  
"You know I'm not classy enough to have info on them-" he begins.

I take a step forward, _into _Ben, knocking him back. I drop the voice, and speak plainly.  
"The Auder's have kidnapped a girl. If you don't tell me what I need to know, she will die. If this she does, if I fail her, because of you..."  
I look right into him, in the way that scares him.  
"If she dies, Ben, you better run. Because, if I don't save her, _I'll come for you, _wether it's your fault or not. So, Ben, any info that will help me save this girl's life? _Yours _depends on it"  
Ben gulps, visibly. "Girl, ey?" Ben says. "The Auder's have a girl?"  
I nodd.  
"While back" he begins. "A good while, mind, so I can't vouch-"  
"Continue" I interupt.  
"Right. A while back, The Auder's tried to do a spell. Tap them into a well of evil power. They got stopped, by a vampire. Angel, his name was. This was hundreds of years ago, the Auder's involved all died. The ones that remained went into hiding, crippled power-wise, doing only minor black market stuff, so the W.C. Leave 'em alone"

Ben paused.  
"Maybe...maybe they're trying it again"

I nodd.  
"The spell, give me info" I say, going back into my slurring to put him a bit at ease.

"Erm. Needs...eight people, to cast. Has to be done at a special place, just behind Russel Winters old mansion"

"Russel Winters?" I asked. "Some badass kicked him out forty floor window, right?"  
Dawn buts in from behind me, "Angel. That was Angel"

I look at her. "This Angel's been around"

"_Anyway_" Ben interupts, as if annoyed at having his story stolen. "They need five ingrediants. The blood of the innocent-"

"Our girl" I say.

"-the blood of the guilty," Ben continues. "The bloood of the friend, the blood of the foe, and the blood of a living Slayer-"  
"A _living _Slayer?" Dawn asks.  
"Yup" Ben nodds. "Spell's useless, less the Slayer's alive.

"Oh my God!" Dawn screams.  
"What?" Ben and I ask in unison.  
"Living Slayer, living slayer!" Dawn screams. "That's why the Master captured Buffy, and kept her alive! We thought it was just so he could torture her, or so another Slayer wouldn't be called, but, but this! He's facilitating this!"

She turns to Ben.

"How powrful will this spell make them?"

Ben shakes his head. "Together...they could dominate the world"

Dawn turns to me. "This is it, this is The Master's plan! We _have _to stop this, chances are he's striked some kind of deal with these Auders to take over the world! If they get that powerful...They'll take out the scoobies! The Master will take over the world!"

I nodd. "We'll stop them" I tell her.

"No you won't" Ben says. "Nothing short of an army will stop the Auder"

"Dawn's recruiting an army" I say. "And I have friends I can call in. So does she. We _will _stop them. Where are they?"

Ben shakes his head.  
"No idea".

"You're sure now, Ben? You're not leaving anything out?"  
"Nothing. I've no idea where they are. Till the day of the spell, you have no chance to find them"  
"Fine" I sigh. "Day of the spell?"

"Any full moon" says Ben.

"Tonight's a full moon!" Dawn says.

"No..." I say. "Full moon was three nights ago"

"Right" Dawn says, sheepishly. "I just though, you know, whenever the bad guy needs a full moon for something it's always a full moon then..."

"This isn't some TV show, Dawn" I tell her. "Come on, let's find these guys, shut them down"

We make for the exist.

Ben speaks up. "They'll need to enchant the earth by moonlight. Chances are they'll be there tonight"

I nodd towards them. "Thank you Ben. If we stop it, I'll have a drink her sometime"

As we walk through the door, I tell him-  
"Pray we stop it, Ben, cause if that girl dies, you won't live long enough to see the world end"


End file.
